Archie Cane
Archie Cane is a brilliant physicist, specializing in particle physics and quantum mechanics. He is the head of the Applied Sciences program at Ark Industries, and oversees important projects for that company. Personality Archimedes Cane is a bookish young man, with an obscure sense of humor. He spends most of his time thinking in the scale of atoms and particles, and is a very introverted person. His mind views human experiences as an interaction of variables, it's ultimately an equation to him. This viewpoint is often conflicting with others, and leads to uncomfortable moments in his social life. His social skills are not what you expect from someone in his social class, and this has to do with the fact that has Asperger's syndrome. He has spent most of his life learning to overcome the difficulties of this disorder. He has reached a comfortable place in his life, as he is successful in his field and quite happy with his life. He has still greater ambitions, and that is what drives him. Archie is definitely bright, and highly eccentric. He is something of geek, having been a long time fan of comic books and role playing games. He tends to get excited when discussing something he is really interested in, whether it be quantum physics, how the Golden Gate Bridge is able to stand, or the latest issue of Spider-Man. He sometimes rambles on past what people find interesting. Archie has a tendency to distance himself from other people. He doesn't relate to people in the same way most people do. He has his own way. Sometimes his friends and family are uncertain whether or not Archie cares about them, but he does. He has immense loyalty to his family, and he values loyalty in general. He will do anything for someone who has earned his loyalty and respect. Archie doesn't like to fuss around with moral debate; he is more interested in advancing his knowledge of science. He also has a healthy respect for getting himself a reliable paycheck. He is thus apathetic to such philosophical questions. Archie has no patience for it, either. He would rather focus on things like science, comic books, and good food. Archie treats people with respect, and tends to be as inoffensive as possible, due to shyness. He is a dilligent worker, who has a routine for everything. His life is regimented, and his schedule is all consuming. Archie is a man with a plan, and if that plan goes awry, Archie gets nervous. When Archie gets nervous his behavior can become unpredictable. This is because he still have trouble handling the stress of having to adjust to sudden change. Archie does not like change, and he does not like a change in the plan most of all. Abilities 'Atomic Transmutation '- Archie can alter the arrangement of particles that form the structure of atoms, and in so doing, transmute one element into another. A good example would be lead into gold. This requires concentration on his part, as he must visualize the atomic structure of matter in an object to manipulate the particles making it up.He can use this power in combat in various ways, mainly by gaining the beneficial properties of certain substances after transmuting parts of his body into those substances. He can transform his bones into something hard, for example iron, to gain a defensive. and potentially offensive edge. He can transform his environment in various ways, such as turning the ground into water, or the surface of water into stone, but this requires a good deal of concerted time and effort. He can never alter the phase of objects he is transmuting. If the temperature were such that any water would be ice, then the anything he were to turn into water would have to be ice. Likewise, if the temperature were such that a given metal would be solid, then any object converted to that metal must be solid. Limits The complexity of a given task increases the level of concentration that Archie needs to exert in order to complete that task. He can easily convert an object composed of a single element into another element. An object composed of many elements and different compounds of such elements is another matter entirely. Using the above examples, turning soil into water would require a level of concentration that would leave him vulnerable to attacks from an enemy, and prevents him from engaging in other tasks, including conversation. Dimensions of the objects are another consideration. The larger the mass, area or volume of the relevant target, the more time and concerted effort it takes to alter its atomic composition, and thus convert it into another sunstance. Again, he is also limited to states of matter allowed by the temperature of the environment he is in. He cannot convert anything into liquid water if he was located near either of the Earth's magnetic poles, for example. He might be able to subvert this, by going into greater complexity by also converting materials into salt, thus having a minor chemical effect of altering the freezing point of water, conducive to thermodynamic principles. The more complex the material involved, and the larger the area to be affected the longer it takes, and the greater the effort required. Background Archimedes Cane's story, like all stories about people, begins with being born. He was born to a life of luxury, but that didn't define him. What defined was not what he was born into, but what he was born with. And it only defines him to the extent that Archie will let it. Laurence and Cassandra Cane had a child with Asperger's Syndrome. A special child no doubt, and in more ways than one. He was born part of a legacy, a branch in a family tree that showed a prevalence for special traits. This was a family of evolved humans, a special family. Cassandra had foreseen her child would be born exactly as he had been, so she was prepared for what his life would be like. That gave them an edge most parent's lacked. Archie grew up, a child without any real peers. His eyes saw a different world, and he struggled to socialize himself with other children. However, he had plenty of time to grow into a bright young boy, whose knowledge was geared toward science and specifically physics and chemistry. He became very good at mathematics, science and was an avid reader. In high school, Archie was a total geek, and he loved every minute of it. He played video games, Dungeons & Dragons, read comics books, and threw himself into science projects and computer programming. He graduated with a profound interest in becoming a physicist. He attended the University of California at Berkeley and received a PhD in physics. He focused his attention on nuclear physics and particle physics, though he also has a decent knowledge of engineering and applied physics. He manifested in college, during one of his classes. He accidently turned the table he was sitting at into solid gold, as his mind was musing on the possibility of making gold appear out of nowhere. Well, it wasn't out of nowhere, but it was certainly shocking to his classmates. He expected it, because everyone in his family had some kind of power. His was better than he ever hoped for. It was perfect for him, really. Now getting out in the real world proved interesting. Especially since he had an ability that made exciting things possible for the advancement of scientific research. Unfortunately, he couldn't figure out a way to artificially duplicate the effect of his power. Still, he was an asset for top scientific research and technologies companies. He worked for a time as a lead researcher at Kilvayne Technologies Incorporated (KTI) and the Kilvayne Energy Company (KEC), but felt he wasn't challenging himself just accepting a job where he had family connections. So he took contract after contract with various companies, and has been a critical part of many research endeavors. Now he has found an opportunity present itself to work in a company that is predominantly motivated to cater to the needs and interests of specials. Archie wanted to be a part of this company, whose work is now more important than ever. Specials were outed, and Ark was the place to be for someone like Archie. Forum History Ark Industries Employment Archie is principally an employee of Ark Industries. His position is head of Ark's Applied Sciences division. He brought on an old friend, an engineer named Eugene Hawke to be his right hand man, and has found the man to be a valuable resource for his work. He has worked closely with Ark's top engineer, Christiana Killian. Recently, Ark Industries was purchased by Lucius Kilvayne and Gabriel Constant. Archie was not pleased about this turn, but he accepted it readily enough. He would do his job just the same as always, he had decided. Relationship with Sarah Murphy Archie Cane became involved with Dr. Sarah Murphy, a fellow Ark employee after a chance encounter in the parking lot led to a date. They have been a couple ever since. He attended his cousin's Charity Ball with Sarah as his date. That was hardly an enchanting evening of decadence, however. It ended in an attempted heist perpetrated by disgruntled former employees of the Kilvayne Corporation. Archie recently proposed that he and Sarah should live together. Category:Neutral Category:Characters Category:Ark Industries